Tamarac's Kiwanis Club Adopts Stretch Of Mcnab

Club Members Commit To Regularly Clean Road Area

Tamarac's Kiwanis Club has taken its mission of community service to new lengths by adopting a stretch of McNab Road.

As part of Broward County's Adopt-A-Street program, the 11 club members will regularly clean up a .7-mile area between Northwest 70th and 80th streets.

"The basics of Kiwanis are that we are a global organization of volunteers that is dedicated to changing the lives of children and the community. This is just one of those projects," President Joel Davidson said.

The county program is an opportunity for homeowners associations, churches, clubs, businesses, families and other groups to make a change in their community. After a group expresses interest, surveyors are sent to find areas most in need of a cleanup. They then provide the group with a list of several half-mile residential streets from which to choose.

Commissioner Pamela Bushnell began the initiative to clean up Tamarac's streets by proposing the idea to Mayor Beth Flansbaum-Talabisco after reading a Sun Sentinel article about the program. Bushnell noticed that Tamarac was not among the 19 participating cities and wanted to change that.

In Tamarac, 11 areas have been chosen to be put up for adoption and seven are being cared for, including the stretch that Kiwanis has contracted for two years.

When the club shows up for a cleanup, they break into small groups and have friendly competitions. Some of their strange finds have included batteries, half of a "love mix" CD and a pair of men's underwear. At a recent two-hour cleanup, the group collected 58.5 pounds of garbage.

City spokesman Andy Berns is a member and former president of Kiwanis. He said the project is a way to teach his son, Dylan, the value of helping his community.

"I've always believed it's important to give back; it's more important I teach my son to do so," he said. "I think it's a great way for members of the community to get involved and help make this a better place."

The club's newest members, John and Suzanne Damico, have jumped right into the project.

"You've got to give back something. There are too many takers in this world," John Damico said.

Suzanne Damico said, "We always like to work for the community. It makes [us] feel good. We're helping keep the community neat."

The next three cleanups will take place in February, May and August.

To participate in Adopt-A-Street, call 954-474-1860 or e-mail recycle&recover@ broward.org.